把 + 人 + 不及物动词 + 了（致使）
a misfortune befalls someone in your family or care: they die, fall ill or get away, and you suffer for it
Structure
主语（遭受损失的人） ＋ 把（＋个） ＋ 人 ＋ 死／病／跑 ＋ 了
What it means
An older, bare 把: someone in your family or care dies, falls ill or gets away, and the subject is the one who suffers the loss or is blamed for it.
How it is built
Sufferer + 把（＋个）+ person + 死／病／跑／丢 + 了, no complement: 看守一时大意，竟把犯人跑了 (The guard slipped up, and the prisoner got away).
When to use it
Northern, colloquial and a little old; common in novels and plays, often with 偏偏, 竟 or 怎么 for bad luck. Learn to read it, but say 犯人跑了 yourself. Compare 5-19’s 可把妈妈急坏了, which has a complement.
Watch out
The person after 把 is not acted on: it is the one who dies or escapes. So 被 cannot replace 把, because nobody did anything to them: ✗ 被犯人跑了. Only intransitive verbs such as 死, 病, 跑, 丢.
Examples
老李命苦，五十岁上就把老伴儿死了，如今一个人过日子。
Lao Li has had a hard life: he lost his wife at fifty and now lives on his own.
看守一时大意，竟把犯人跑了。
The guard let his attention slip for a moment, and the prisoner got away.
真不巧，偏偏这个时候把个老张病了，这些事只能我们几个干。
As luck would have it, Lao Zhang has gone and fallen ill just now, so the work is left to the few of us.
Learn this in Lesson 195 · HSK 7–9: 遗嘱与继承 (Wills and inheritance: a legal advice column)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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